byStuart Trew Council of Canadians Quebec Solidaire, a social movement-based political party in the provincial legislature, has written to progressive European parliamentarians for assistance in forming a common resistance to the Canada-EU free trade deal (CETA). The letter was sent on the same day as news reports suggested Quebec Premier Pauline Marois could oppose the Canada-EU

Exposed European Union demands show Canadians’ local authority, labour and enviro protections are at risk. By Robert Duffy and Charley Beresford TheTyee.ca We’ve been following the CETA (Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement) negotiations between Canada and the European Union since 2010, starting with a legal analysis of early leaked documents, commissioned by the Centre for Civic

The Rest of Canada wants consultations too. from the Council of Canadians SGnews.ca A final round of Canada-European Union free trade talks is just around the bend. From October 15 to 26, Canadian negotiators will be in Brussels to wrap up the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), or so they hope. That

Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives CETA Could Throw Ontarians Out of Work: Report OTTAWA—A trade deal with the European Union (EU) that’s being negotiated behind closed doors could result in as many as 70,000 job losses in Ontario, says a report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ (CCPA) Ontario office.

Let’s have it for the seals! Just another reason to support a sealing ban: it could halt CETA, the Canada EU trade deal. By Stuart Trew Council of Canadians Canada and Norway are moving ahead with their joint disputes at the World Trade Organization against a popular European Union ban on importing

CETA would basically emasculate provincial and municipal powers of regulation. It is a hostile takeover of the Canadian constitution by Harper’s Corporate Canada. CETA will kill jobs, rob provinces of powers to steer own courses. Can it be stopped? Murray Dobbin TheTyee.ca Stephen Harper’s no-longer-secret agenda to implement a revolution from the right

This trade agreement is being negotiated in secrecy by the Harper government without a transparent, comprehensive impact assessment available to Members of Parliament. Among other things it will render labour agreements useless, trash the public’s right to choose public procurement and ignores indigenous rights to be consulted. Cultural sovereignty will be a thing of the past. The Open

Elizabeth May, Leader The Green Party of Canada It was once the case that the term “life sciences” meant the scientific study of living organisms. It meant biology, zoology, ecology, and even bio-ethics. In what must have been a public relations re-branding, “life sciences” has now adopted an almost entirely technological, commercial focus

Trade deals, negotiated in secret with little participation by ordinary citizens or their MPs, often have dramatic consequences about how we conduct business and often reduce our democratic rights to self-government. Free trade has little in common with fair trade and often attack our ability to protect ecosystems. At the very least, international trade deals

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The election of the PQ in Quebec may spell the end of one of Mr. Harper’s favourite hobby horses–the signing of a secret CETA trade deal. Brent Patterson The Council of Canadians Will the Parti Québécois win derail the dreadful free trade deal with Europe championed by (soon-to-be former) premier Jean Charest and the

Trade agreements are often conducted in secret and then, when ratified, are presented as a fait accompli. This process favours corporations at the expense of the electorate. An opaque process avoids public input and is essentially a government lockout of its citizens and their choice in choosing the shape of their society. It is profoundly

Council of Canadians Press Release Ottawa – The Council of Canadians celebrates last night’s decision by Thunder Bay city council to seek an exemption from the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). This latest municipal motion, and the over 40 similar municipal requests for exemptions from the proposed Canada-EU trade deal,

By Stuart Trew, Council of Canadians The following op-ed by the Trade Justice Network appears in this week’s edition of European Voice, a weekly news source providing “a comprehensive account of the activities of the key European Union institutions — the European Commission, European Parliament and Council of Ministers,” according to the website. A trade

Public Values CETA would empower European and American corporations at the expense of provinces and territories. OTTAWA, ON, July 10, 2012: Canada’s premiers are being warned that the proposed Canada-EU trade deal will limit provincial and territorial powers, fundamentally reshaping the constitutional landscape. The warning comes in a new legal analysis urging full

Stuart Trew, Council of Canadians In April 2012, the Harper government launched a propaganda campaign in response to growing criticism of the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). The campaign material, housed on a new DFAIT webpage, attempts to respond to several claims about CETA which the government believes to be myths. Unfortunately,